Inside Unmanned Systems

APR-MAY 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 64 of 67

65 April/May 2018 unmanned systems
inside
Already in phase one, geofencing is
referenced, so UAVs are in it from the
beginning. By phase four, which is
2030 and beyond, we get full integra-
tion of UAVs into existing air traffic
management."
MOVING ON
Crossing back to Nuremberg, we
spoke to Julia Gonschorek, who is a
project manager and research fellow
at Germany's inf luential European
Aviation Security Center (EASC). She
said, "As far as I know the [EU RPAS]
regulation will come. But we are not so
sure about when exactly it would start
in Germany. Not before 2025-2030, in
any case, because even if the Union ac-
cepts it, passes it, then Germany still
has to decide for itself. We still have to
design our own rules, our own law, and
the law enforcement aspects have to be
finished with the SESAR regulations
as well."
So, meanwhile, the industry will
simply continue to move for ward
without the EU regulation? "Yes, that's
right," Gonschorek said.
Has the EU RPAS regulation initia-
tive been an exercise in futility? Will
it have any relevance in 2030? Many
are already looking for other solutions,
possibly to be provided by a group
like JARUS, the Joint Authorities for
Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems.
This is a global assembly of national
aviation authorities aiming, like the
EU, to recommend a single set of tech-
nical, safety and operational require-
ments for drones. Time will tell who
gets there first.
Wherever the legal wrangling leads,
one thing is certain, the rate at which
drones are being put into service is not
going to decrease. Drones represent a
huge potential for innovation and busi-
ness opportunities, and the majority
of these systems are providing or will
provide valuable and beneficial servic-
es. And then, conversely, in the wrong
hands, they will also pose a real threat.
BRINGING THEM DOWN
At the Nuremberg show, we met
Johannes Petz, sales director, counter
UAV, for German company Hensoldt.
He introduced us to Xpeller.
"It's not just a jammer," he said.
"It's a portable, counter-UAV system,
equipped with a jammer but also a re-
ceiving part. It has an RF detector for
picking up the drone signal, either the
remote control or the video downlink.
It gives out an alert, so it vibrates, and
we get some information via head-
phones. Then you can switch on the
jammer."
B u t a r e n' t j a m m e r s i l l e g a l?
"Jamming, per se, is not illegal [in
Germany]," Petz said, "but there are
some very tough restrictions. It's al-
lowed for some police services, like in
certain scenarios if there's a threat to
life, or for example if a political VIP
visits Berlin, then it's a different story.
If you want to protect such an event,
police or institutional users with the
respective mandate are allowed to do
so. But for private companies, for pri-
vate persons, for sure it's not allowed."
The relevant authority in Germany
is the 'Bundesnetzagentur'. "It's like the
FCC in the US," Petz said. "You have
to contact them, explain your purpose,
and you may be given permission to
use a jammer for a specific period of
time. I believe this is the way it works
in most countries.
"So we can install Xpeller at a fixed
site, or integrated into a vehicle," Petz
"THE ONE YOU SEE ABOVE YOU RIGHT NOW
IS ACTUALLY JUST FOR DEMONSTRATION; IT'S
ABOUT ONE-THIRD THE SIZE OF THE ACTUAL
OPERATIONAL SHIP."
Michael Rappsilber
Airbus system and test engineer
said. "And over here you can see the
portable version [indicating a man-
nequin in military garb, fitted with
various antennae and other electronic
gizmos]. This here is more for mili-
tary guys, where they don't care about
the collateral effects of jamming. Of
course we can also reduce these side
effects by making the signal very di-
rected, or limiting it to only a short
period of time, and we can also tweak
the output power a little bit.
"We just had our jammers installed
at an airport for a test we wanted to
run, like a pilot project, and we were
able to modify our jammers in such a
way that the German FCC allowed us
to do our testing."
There were many other examples
of new drone-related ideas, prod-
ucts and services across the events in
Munich and Nuremberg. Clearly the
growing number of possible applica-
tions is also bringing new questions
about safety, where and when they
can be f lown, and how to deal with
rogues, all of which means, if nothing
else, that there remains a lot of work
to be done by all concerned. Which is
good news for all concerned.